Williams eases into clay season opener

Serena Williams looked sharper than her previous match in March as she opened her clay-court season at the Italian Open with a routine 6-4, 6-2 win over Swedish qualifier Rebecca Peterson yesterday.

In March at the Miami Open, Williams needed three sets to beat Peterson.

“It’s been a while. I haven’t played a ton of matches this year,” Williams said. “Not my choice, just by force. I really, really actually desperately wanted to be on the tour and to be playing. It felt good to finally be back out. Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep it up.”

Williams fell behind 3-1 in the first set but then began to take control with her baseline power on a windy day at the Foro Italico.

When Williams ran down a passing attempt from Peterson and replied with a cross-court winner to break for 5-2 in the second set, she let out a scream and bent over as she pumped both of her fists.

In the final game, Williams served two aces and saved two break points before closing out the first-round match.

Williams finished with 28 winners to Peterson’s eight and committed only two more unforced errors than the 58th-ranked Swede, 22-20.

Williams was playing for the first time since withdrawing ahead of her third-round match in Miami because of a left knee injury. The last time Williams played in Rome was in 2016 when she won the last of her four Italian Open trophies.

“I haven’t been able to train or practise a lot. I was out much longer than I expected,” Williams said. “But I did everything I could to stay fit and to keep my cardio up. I knew that I love the clay season and I wanted to be a part of it.”

If Venus Williams wins her match against Elise Mertens, the Williams sisters will meet in the second round.

In men’s action, Borna Coric rallied past Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4 in a match-up of two of the top young players on tour. Auger-Aliassime struggled with his serve, hitting seven double-faults to Coric’s one.